The National with Bartees Strange

he National treat rock music as a salve. For over two decades, they’ve crafted songs that set out to navigate a hurting world, creating a space where dispirited souls can unite and raise a toast to another day. In that time, they’ve grown a lot as artists and songwriters, evolving from an underdog indie outfit into one of the most adventurous and influential bands of our time, with an impact that’s reverberated through the worlds of alternative rock, avant- garde classical composition, and even Top 40 pop (not to mention the campaign of at least one former president).